Fairy Tail - only different
by Its-Crash
Summary: Lucy and Natsu don't work well together! They used to be in a small guild called Ivory Rose. After the magic council decided to shut it down, both of them embarked on their own journey to train hard and eventually join a more reputable guild. Fate, nonetheless, didn't plan for them to part. Two years later they meet again.
1. Chapter 1

C1: The worst team ever

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"I open the gate of the maiden! Virgo" I roared like some dominant master and imposingly raised the key up to the sky. It was going to be massive and totally disastrous, I was sure of it. The adrenaline raced through my body and I was so ready to win this. I inhaled deeply and prepared for the spectacle of the century. All of a sudden, a kick from behind had me roll over several times to finally hit the wall of a small town house.

My eyes moved up to inspect the guy who had just kicked me. He cocked his head to the side and stupidly glanced at me, lying with my butt up against the wall. "What are you trying to do, Lucy? You've just acquired your first golden key and don't have enough power to control it" said the kid who can't even bring his fire to the point of impact. It turns to smoke before it actually hits. So pathetic!

His name was Natsu Dragneel. And a guy with salmon pink hair, come on; not even a ton of gel could help him look slick. His ridiculously raven black eyes glared like a retard's and I really disliked him with all my heart. It was clearly a mystery to me, why the master wanted us to partner up. Apparently, it was advantageous and genuinely complementary to have a celestial spirit mage and a fire mage team up.

I rolled back over and sat on my behind for a bit before I actually got up into a standing position. As soon as I did, I brushed off the dirt on my clothes to eventually turn around and unleash my wrath. I took another deep breath, assembled the first words in my head, and there was no way back. Literally in a state of berserk, I whipped my blond hair with the wind and started screaming at… apparently nothing. Natsu was not there and I looked to my left and right just to spot him fighting with the big gorilla or whatever it was.

I had totally forgotten about it; just a minute or two or three ago, I wanted to defeat the beast with my newly acquired spirit, one of the twelve golden zodiac keys. To be honest, it was quite the fishy trick to get my hands on it. You know, how could a wizard like me possess something so precious? Well, the previous owner was some old perverted dude and I posed as one of his maids when he attempted to harass me. And then it was only a matter of a little conspiracy and he landed behind bars. The contract with the spirit was nulled and the key was mine.

I mindlessly stood on the town square and observed Natsu in the middle of an intriguing fight. I was really enjoying it. There was nothing more entertaining than a giant ape with green fur beating on a poor kid who thought he was so cool. If only I had popcorn with me, I'd joyfully devour all of it while enjoying the scene of that violent comedy.

With a harsh blow, my companion landed right to my feet as I retracted them to avoid physical contact. What can I say, I really dislike him. And he wasn't hurt that badly. The fact that he got up immediately to yell at me for idly standing by was evidence for that. Yeah, we quarreled a lot; so much that the monkey lost interest in fighting us and walked away. Of course, neither of us noticed it and kept on arguing. "We are supposed to be partners and you're just standing there like a statue while I'm doing all the work" he furiously growled something that went into one of my ears and left out the other. Wasn't he the one who kicked me and prevented my attempt to attack in the first place? So what did the master say, again? It was genuinely complementary my face! We were the worst team ever!

It wasn't until we heard a child's screaming when we finally got ourselves together and refocused on the mission. The assignment was quite simple. That small town of Wiltingen, located in the northwest of Fiore, was being raided by an evil gorilla. That was the reason why we were there. The mayor of Wiltingen had asked our guild to take care of it. Meanwhile, all the townspeople were staying with family or friends until the matters were resolved. Therefore, it was rather surprising to hear anyone else's voice around the area.

Like rockets, we hurried to scene and I saw a young girl curled up in the corner. She had aquamarine blue hair and a nice set of sapphire blue eyes. Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes as she trembled. The massive primate imposingly stood in front of the kid with its fist high up in the air. It was about to smash the little one to tiny bits and we surely couldn't let the bad guy do as he wished. I rapidly closed in to throw a distracting spark of stellar dust while Natsu attacked from the other side. The glitter startled the animal and it took a step backwards in irritation. In your face, Stupid! My partner had just set up a nice trap. He melted the ground which had Mr. Meanie trip onto his behind like a toddler learning how to walk.

I had the girl climb onto my back and tried to escape the danger zone. That toddler, unfortunately, learned how to walk in fast forward. It was up and standing. Right in front of me. I glared into giant black eyes as it exhaled steam out of its nostrils. If the face wasn't covered by fur, I'd say it was running a red tomato! Forced into another corner, it was a dead end. I couldn't do much, anyway. There was a somewhat heavy girl on my back. If I were to release any of my great potential, I might hurt her. With its fist in the air again, I halted my breath. What should I do? I backed further against the wall behind me. Too bad that I couldn't just pass through. That would have been a good option to have. The muscles of the gorilla's arm were tensed; ready to strike down. I closed my eyes. I opened them again. Nope, the big guy was still there; vengeful and aggressive.

As the arm lowered with ferocious speed to squash me to pizza, I already said my last prayers. Nonetheless, death approached in slowest motion or my prayers were heard or… as much as I didn't like it… Natsu saved my dying A double S. I opened my eyes and saw him protectively standing in front of us with both of his hands blocking the ape's enormous fist. The sweat dripped down the side of his face as he forcefully maintained his strength. But – as expected from such a wuss – his victorious stance broke and the monkey punched him right into the ground.

It was my opportunity to shine. I stepped on Natsu's head to bounce onto the opponent's arm and escaped from the corner into heaven's heights. The big guy tried to catch me in midair. I, however, was a little fairy and just learned how to fly. "I open the gate of the maiden! Virgo" I roared and a beautiful pink haired spirit emerged with heavy chains around her arms. She used those to throw a blowing punch and "in your face, Stupid!"

The evil primate was completely knocked out. Thanks to me, of course, and perhaps also thanks to Natsu. He dug himself out of the earth and placed his dirty hands on my head. "That was quite good. But, come on, you did nothing. It was the maid!" said the kid who can't even bring his fire to the point of impact.

Our mission was accomplished and it was time to say goodbye to the young girl. Natsu tried to be cool again and simply waved as he walked off. I joyfully hugged her and soon hurried back to my partner's side. We headed back to our small guild by the name of Ivory Rose. But none of us have anticipated any of what came next. I remember that day very clearly. Tears were running like rivers and I even leaned against Natsu's shoulder to find comfort. I normally wouldn't do that. Nevertheless, it was something greater than the both of us and our differences. The master had just informed us. I didn't want to believe it. He received a letter of notice demanding our guild to be shutdown. It was too small and wasn't lucrative enough.

From then on, all of the members left to train hard and eventually join a more reputable guild. Two years have passed since and I have worked extensively, acquired a few new keys and was determined to join Fiore's greatest guild: Sabertooth.

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**Yo, minna! I hope you enjoyed the opening chapter of my first fan fiction ever! And don't worry guys: the true greatest guild will also be important! Rock & Roll, guys! Thank you so much for reading! ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

C2: The sound of his name gives me chills

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Just outside of a lovely city called Magnolia, I and my travel companion Juvia Lockser rested for a little while. And while we're doing that, I'll tell you the story of our encounter. Just a few weeks after my previous master had announced that Ivory Rose was shut down by the magic council, I had packed my bags and left on a journey. All alone in the big wide kingdom of Fiore. I must admit that loneliness had lured me into wasting thoughts on that Natsu guy. He left a day before I did and said the strangest thing: "I know we didn't get along too well, but I wish you all the best!" Okay that wasn't the strange thing. It is a bit confounding to recall that experience. He petted through my hair and cheekily grinned from one side of the face to the other. Then it was silent for a moment. Both of us merely glanced out of the window and listened to the morning birds whistling their serene tune. He was ready to depart. I wasn't going to see him again and it sort of left me feeling nostalgic, although I still stood inside the protective walls of our former guild. He took a small step towards the door, anxious to leave that part of his life behind. And before he disappeared from sight, he turned around again and bore a broad grin on his face. "Perhaps I'll even miss you!" he quickly blurted out and ran out of the doors leaving me no time to react. What a jerk, huh?

Sorry, I digressed a bit. I wanted to tell you about the encounter with Juvia Lockser. So I felt lonely on my travels to become a great mage and it was only the first day of my journey. The sun was already setting in the distance as I set foot into the town of Wiltingen. That time, it was quite lively. Children ran around the town square, elderly people attended to their evening walk and mothers or fathers did some grocery shopping. I walked around searching for a cheap guesthouse to rent a bed for the night. With vigilant eyes, I even spotted the girl we had saved the other day and really wanted to talk after a long day of solitude.

I made my way over to her and she instantly recognized me. Cheerily, she raced towards me and gave me a gentle hug. It felt genuinely nice to be held like that. Her name was Jayma Lockser and each of us enjoyed a nice scoop of ice cream on a bench at the fountain on the town square. Little Jayma asked me what I was doing in Wiltingen and where my boyfriend was. The last part had struck me like a bolt of lightning and I gruesomely corrected her with a shrill and piping voice. He was not my boyfriend! She simply laughed at me and pointed out that my face turned crimson red.

It took a minute for me to calm down again and I asked her whether she knew a cheap guesthouse in town. "The Bell's run a nice business a little bit outside of town, but you could also stay with us" she shyly verbalized her thoughts. Her parents would kindly offer their daughter's rescuer a free place to crash. And that was where we went.

They lived in a nice three story house. The minute that I entered through the entrance door, I could immediately feel the warmth of the family. Her mother, just as beautiful with blue hair and blue eyes, checked on whoever came home and Jayma explained everything. Her mother walked up to me to appreciatively rob me of air with a strong embrace. Still in her grasp, I saw Jayma pulling her mother by the t-shirt. "What is it honey?" Mrs. Lockser asked. "Lucy needs a place to stay for the night. Would it be okay to have her over?" The mother looked at me, a welcoming smile on her face. It was the least that they could do, she said and I had found myself a cheap slash free bed.

So that was where I met Juvia. She was Jayma's big sister and I slept in her room for the night. The next morning, my nose picked up on the smell of fresh pancakes and like a butterfly, I followed the sweet scent. Downstairs at the table, everything was readily set up. It was a nice family breakfast and I didn't remember the last time I had such a lovely get-together. You see, my mother died when I was very young and my father, well, he was too busy to care.

Before I left to travel across Fiore and practice my magic, Mrs. Lockser asked me for a favor. Wondering whether it was okay if her daughter Juvia joined me, she explained that it was her daughter's dream to join a mage's guild, too. And why would I decline such a nice companion. We became best friends and there we were, two years later, resting a few miles outside of Magnolia.

"How great is this guy, anyway, that you insist to join Fairy Tail?" I asked her and almost regretted having raised the question. She always got a bit demon possessed when it came down to him. "He is beyond great!" She literally screamed. "He's the one that got me started in all of this. Gray Fullbuster, just the sound of his name gives me chills!"

She didn't even know him; simply read about him in the Sorcerer's Magazine and crushed on him like some obsessive fan girl. He certainly did have remarkable attributes; like the fact that he was the youngest wizard to ever join one of the most reputable guilds or the fact that he was sort of good-looking. Nevertheless, I was not convinced that it was worth going after some guy when you had the chance to stick with your best friend and join the greatest guild of all – which was not Fairy Tail.

It wasn't worth the effort to discuss. Juvia truly was an obsessive fan girl and with her mind set, there was nothing I could do to persuade her. She even tried to learn the same magic: Ice-Make. But since she couldn't keep the ice in its solid state, she decided to use water magic, instead. So you get an idea, how fanatic she is.

We were about to move on when a group of aggressive men appeared. "Look at what I've found!" One of them said and grabbed ahold of Juvia's arm as she ignorantly tried to pass by. He wouldn't let go of her and another stranger grabbed me from behind. I instantly reached for my keys. But they were gone. "Juvia, do something!" I urged her to use her magic. She couldn't do anything, either. Those men were definitely mages, strong mages.

A third one stepped out of the shadows and explained that he had the ability to suppress magic by using Oblivion. I've never heard of anything like it. It was calamitous, nonetheless. It was the power to make things forgotten which results in its disappearance. That was where my keys went; they were forgotten and thus, vanished from reality.

We couldn't to break free. They were too forceful. "Let go of us!" Juvia demanded and twitched like a mouse held by its tail. "Gray will kill you, if you hurt us!" It was quite the lame warning because Gray didn't even know about our existence. But then again, the mean guys didn't know about him not knowing. So yeah, legitimate threat, I'd say. If only it worked…

"Oh, you mean Fairy Tail's Ice-Make mage?" The one holding Juvia maliciously inquired and demonstrated his magic. Juvia was rendered speechless. In his hand, the guy actually held a beautiful rose made of ice. I didn't know what to say, either. And I didn't have the chance to, anyway. A second later, I simply saw black and felt dry grass against my face.

As if suffering from a bad hangover – not that I really know what it felt like – I woke up in the middle of the night and heard the distinct sound of owls. Slowly, I regained my consciousness and vaguely remembered what had happened. Then it struck me like thunder and I cried out Juvia's name into the nothingness. She was gone. I looked everywhere for her. It was quite dark and it was an effort to actually see. It couldn't be helped. She was gone. They had taken her and I didn't know what to do. What would the Locksers think if they found out? They trusted me and I had lost her to malevolent wizards. I really had to find her and searched the entire region without any luck. With my keys gone as well, I couldn't even use my magic.

I was still searching as the sun rose in the horizon and shed a warm light onto Magnolia. My stare analyzed the city for a while and I only agreed to go there because Juvia wanted to join Fairy Tail. The guild of Sabertooth was located somewhere else. But I couldn't just continue my journey, could I? There was no way around it, I had to save Juvia. Therefore, I headed straight for Magnolia and arrived an hour or so later.

My eyes wandered up the impressive building with Fairy Tail's emblem impressively displayed on a giant banner in the center of the building. Ferociously, I strolled across the wide space to the massive entrance doors. And man, those were rather heavy and I used a whole lot of strength to open the gates.

There were long tables placed across the entrance area and at the other end of the hall, there was a bar. Every one inside looked up to see who was coming in. From the distance, I caught a glimpse of Mirajane Strauss waiting on tables. I've seen her on pictures in the magazine and always thought she was too gorgeous to actually exist. But there she was in the flesh and blood, more beautiful than any photo could portray. Fairy Tail's eyes were still on me as I marched down the aisles and searched for another prominent face. I was searching for a guy with spiky black hair, dark blue eyes and a bad boy grin. It wasn't long until I finally spotted him at the table closest to the bar.

I walked up and noisily placed my fists onto the table. Gray had question marks across his face and probably wondered what I wanted. I must admit, I must have looked like a lunatic racing towards him and causing such a scene. But my friend was missing and I needed help finding her. And what do people do when they need help? They hire a wizard's guild to do the job. The next question in the bunch; why did I want Gray to do the job? Well, because he was the best and if Juvia was still alive, she'd be overly happy to finally meet him – or her heart would bust out of her chest and she'd die, then.

"Ahh, so you need help rescuing a girl who was kidnapped by some evil guys?" he summarized my request, sort of ridiculing it. Of course, he was high in demand and someone so popular had better things to do. It didn't really come as a surprise that he wanted someone else to do the job and suggested their newest addition. I was shocked and held my breath. My eyes were locked and I imaginarily slapped my face to wake up from that nightmare. I didn't want to believe it. It didn't make sense at all. Pink hair, black eyes, massive smirk on his face…

"NATSU!?"

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**(Thank you for all the support I received for the first chapter! Here's the second one. To better fit the role of a protagonist, I wanted Lucy to be more prominent and independent. However, now that Natsu's back, she might learn how to rely on him. I hope you enjoyed it, anyway. Thank you for reading!)**


	3. Chapter 3

C3: A little paranoid

"Oh, it was Luigi, right?" he looked at me with his big, round eyes and asked. Given that two years have passed, he didn't necessarily have to remember my name. Nevertheless, I still steamed like a boiling kettle and yelled at him: "LUCY!" And given that two years have passed, I didn't think that he could still have that effect on me. I usually don't lose my temper that quickly. Although it was clear that we wouldn't click, Gray commented that it was good that we already knew each other and where did his clothes go, by the way? Apparently, he had this weird habit and subconsciously stripped whenever and wherever.

I didn't pay much attention to Natsu and tried my hardest to get Gray on my team. Sitting down onto the table, I put on my flirty face, bent over closer to his face and gently said: "Please". It was unbelievable. He was as cold as ice and didn't even look at me. My charm was of world class and any sane guy would fall for it. It was too frustrating if it wasn't for a voice ordering him to accompany me. "Gray, help the young lady out. She's the customer!"

Apparently it was the head of Fairy Tail, Master Makarov, and Gray reluctantly agreed. I probably could have begged on my knees and he still wouldn't join. Hence, I intended to express my gratitude for his kindness. I looked around and couldn't see anyone. Just as I diverted my gaze to the floor, I saw him. Master Makarov was really tiny and adorable.

"Thank you so much! I really appreciate it" I expressed my gratitude and shimmering stars glittered inside my eyes. The next thing: not so much appreciated. "Natsu, join both of them, too!" No way in hell! I was too shocked to hear it and didn't have time to react. The pink haired guy instantly got up, walked to the end of the table and stood next to me. He patted my shoulder and broadly grinned showing off his white canine teeth. "Lucy, we're a team again!" he cheerily said and walked towards the exit of the building. Where was he going, I asked Gray who still sat at the table. Then, without a proper response, he also got up and followed after the salmon haired mage. I was totally lost with those two. Still on the table, Gray left the building through the open doors and called for me: "Oi, Lucy, are you coming or not?"

We walked up the rough patch back to where Juvia was kidnapped and I felt completely ignored by my companions. They mindlessly walked in front of me and watched the birds and bees doing their daily business. It was a nice day, indeed. The sky was a cloudless blue and the sun shone brightly. Cheery chirping resonated from greenest trees and the soothing sound of running water, a fresh blue stream, calmed my senses. Even so, I couldn't help but feeling a little paranoid.

"Guys" I quietly called out and none of them seemed to have heard it. I called a second and a third time until Gray finally turned around to pay attention to me. Natsu, that idiot, simply told him to ignore me: "She's just trying to feel important, don't mind her!" Slowly, I was getting really angry and rushed to Mr. Pink Hair. "I'm not trying to be important!" I yelled into his ears and he turned to look at me with his irritating black eyes, inquisitive and totally retarded. "So what is it then?" he asked.

Well, at first it didn't really bother me. But my female intuition signaled that something was following us. Both, Natsu and Gray, turned around and analyzed the environment. "There's no one there!" Natsu said and ran a hand through my hair. "You're just a little upset, because your friend was kidnapped!" I honestly wished for him to stop touching me. But in a way, that big grin on his face and his calming words had me sigh in relief. Perhaps it really was my wild imagination.

We hiked for another half an hour and I was back at Natsu's side, completely freaked out. That thing was still there haunting us like a ghost. I even held a tight grip to his shoulders and trembled. I could feel chills running down my spine as if Gray had misplaced an ice cube. "Natsu, it's still there!"

He turned around and looked right at the thing. _Finally_ I thought to myself. Yet, he reoriented back to me and claimed that he still didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Gray was also getting annoyed with my behavior. I was not lying, something followed us, even though they couldn't see it. I sure as hell could and it sort of scared the crap out of me. Maybe the wizards from the other day had put a curse on me; made me see things that weren't there.

I swallowed a lump and regained my bravery to walk right up to the thing and yelled: "Stop following us, you evil hallucination!"

Several birds flew out of a tree in the distance. I was not going to let those mages win the upper hand and freak me out to death. That weird blue cat with round black eyes was not going to break my spirit! Suddenly, it even got wings. My eyes grew in size, about to pop out. _What in the world? _It startled me quite a bit. At least it flew off. That was the most important thing. I was really proud of myself because I had scared it away, even without my magical keys. There was no need for the guy's help, after all. Why had I not come up with that idea, earlier? I victoriously laughed in the middle of the field when I heard a child's voice in the back of my head. "Natsu, this Luigi girl is really mean" it said and it was infuriating that they just couldn't get my name right.

"IT'S LUCY" I turned around and viciously screamed at whoever just talked. Round black eyes glared deep into mine. It was the flying cat and it talked! I almost fell on my behind. That cat talked! It didn't need a psychologist's agreement. I was definitely going insane.

"This is too much for me to bear" I said, giving up on understanding life. If it wasn't for Natsu hurrying to my side, I would have collapsed onto the floors. "Lucy, it's okay. This is Happy, my friend!" My eyes were still spinning as I directed my gaze up to the sky. Gray remarked that I was a nutcase. Under the same breath, he wondered whether I even knew what the kidnappers looked like or whether it was just another one of my delusions. He even went further and questioned whether I actually had a friend to start out with. It was awfully mean of him to say that and I was up and standing to kick his behind – if it wasn't bare, I actually would have. "Put on some clothes, pervert! Of course I know what they looked like!"

So I started describing the one that held Juvia. Well, he was the only one, I really saw. Both of them listened carefully and Natsu's face was so close to mine that it was almost intolerable. The guy, who grabbed ahold of Juvia, was around their height, had spiky white-colored hair, dark blue eyes and used his magic to create a rose of ice. He had that evil smirk on his face and it appeared to have lowered the temperatures significantly. He truly seemed like a very bad guy. Natsu blinked a few times, shifted his gaze towards Gray, back to me, back to Gray and then pointed at his friend saying: "The description fits him really well, don't you think?"

Grr… he was so mentally challenged that it made my stomach churn. It was not Gray. Had he not listened to any words I said? The kidnapper had white hair and Gray had black hair! Natsu rubbed the back of his head and apologized: "Sorry, I spaced out and just heard that he used magic to create ice!" Fair enough, but why would Gray kidnap Juvia. More importantly, if it really was him, it would not have been abduction. My blue haired friend would willingly follow him to the obscurest corners. I was agitated and wildly shook my head.

While doing that, I caught a glimpse of something in the corner of my eyes. It was blue, not Happy, and it lay on the ground. I hastily made my way towards it. It was a blue hat; Juvia's hat. The path was forked and it was an indication that they must have passed by. "So we just have to follow that way!" Natsu suggested. I, however, had my suspicions. They wouldn't just leave her hat lying around. It might be a trick to send us in the wrong direction. Gray agreed with me and surprisingly, someone else, not Happy, did, too.

"Nothing less was to expect from you, Lucy Heartfilia!" A woman with long brown hair jumped out of a tree and shot a vile ray of laser straight at me.


	4. Chapter 4

C4: I'm all fired up

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My eyes were open wide as my death sentence raced towards me to pierce through my heart. I halted my breath and thought of nothing. I was shocked because I realized that it was where my life ended. And it ended in slowest motion. A second appeared to pass like an hour. The ray of accumulated energy seemed miles away and yet so close. My legs were sluggish and I had no sense of feeling down there. I didn't feel the beam hit, yet, I collapsed beneath my own weight. Flat on the ground, I didn't breathe. I didn't even know whether it was over, whether I was dead, already. I closed my eyes and felt the last breeze of fresh air brushing past the tip of my nose. It was calm and serene. It was too peaceful when an irritating voice reached my hearing.

"Now that I've eaten, I'm all fired up!"

I opened my eyes, Gray at my side to check whether I was okay and Natsu protectively standing in front of me. I hastily inspected my chest and thank god there was no hole. I didn't really understand what had happened, but I knew that Natsu had saved me. And the question on how he managed to do that had to be put off until the fight was over. I reached for my keys and completely forgot that they weren't there. "You just stay back, Lucy. We'll take care of it!" Gray said and joined Natsu.

In the corner of my eyes, I saw Happy sitting against a tree eating fish. The cat looked awfully relaxed in such a dangerous situation. I crawled over and wondered why. The blue furred creature simply remarked that it was going to be alright. Natsu was a strong mage and someone like that brown haired woman could not lay a finger on him. I couldn't really wrap my head around the idea that the fire wizard could ever stand a chance against her. Yet, two years had passed. Maybe he did grow and became quite the good fighter. _Maybe I should just trust him on this_ I thought to myself when the piercing smell of some seafood snuck up my nose. "Do you like fish?" Happy asked me and offered me some of his lunch.

"No! You stupid cat! It's not even cooked, yet!" I shouted at him as if all my worries vanished into thin air. "Good, I knew you would say that. I just didn't want to come across as selfish!" The blue thing mentioned and took a big bite into the smelly fish.

I directed my gaze at the guys and watched them fight skillfully. And I must admit that Natsu looked awfully good all grown up and capable. Just as that nonsense rushed through my mind, I really wanted to slap my face as hard as possible. I didn't like him. Not in any alternate universe could I picture myself with someone like him. I was bound to be with some handsome, responsible and intelligent man; a man who is funny, sensitive and knows how to please me. Natsu Dragneel, he was just a kid without the wits of a true man.

The fact that fire spouted all around and burnt down the surrounding trees was proof for that. He definitely became stronger. However, he didn't seem to know how to use the flames properly. That girl was swift and dodged all of his fiery attacks. As soon as she saw an opening, she fired away with her magical lasers. If it wasn't for Gray backing the kid up like a pro, she'd beat him down in an instance. From someone who couldn't get his fire to the point of impact, he developed to a helpless arsonist. The black haired guy created layers of ice and made moving around a dangerous venture. The battleground was a field of ice and that girl still progressed without slipping. She even used the ice to her advantage. Frozen solid, ice was the perfect mirror. With only one ray of light, she hit both of them at the same time. Gray was catapulted against a burning tree while Natsu harshly hit the icy ground.

"Now to you, Blondie!" She approached both of us pointing with her index finger. Anytime about to shoot, I tried to convince her otherwise. There was no need to shed blood, no need to kill me. I was just some girl and without my keys, I was useless. It wouldn't be any different if I lived, right? She merely shrugged and agreed. Nevertheless, she had her orders and didn't plan on failing like the guys from the day before did. It was a simple task and they took the wrong girl.

Before she could finish explaining their true motives, she went up in flames and flew across the sky. A salmon haired mage victoriously stood where she was just a second ago, a broad grin on his face. "Never turn your back on the enemy, right!" he cheerily commented and I couldn't believe it. She was just about to tell me what they wanted and he managed to mess it up. He undeniably was a rash, irrational and overly annoying kid. Not at all the kind of man I saw myself with in the future. I really wanted to strangle him. Then again, he also saved me. So I decided to let it slip. They wanted me for something and therefore, they would come back for me.

I was about to express my gratitude when he suddenly turned blue and collapsed as if he was on a boat and suffered from severe motion sickness. Inexplicably, I rushed to his side like a caring girlfriend and caught him before he crashed on the rough ground. "Natsu? What's wrong?" I worried about him. He attempted to talk but couldn't say a word. As Gray approached us, he explained that Natsu had eaten the laser to protect me. That was probably the reason why he felt so sick all of a sudden. At first I thought it was a reasonable explanation. But then I realized that nobody eats laser. So why would he do just that? Happy jumped in and explained that Natsu eats fire to boost his magic. "It's too strange that the laser made him sick. She must have mixed rotten fish into it" was the cat's understanding and I was just like who are these people and why did I end up with them

Perhaps Gray was the sanest of them and then again, sane people didn't run around naked all of a sudden. Closest runner-up was Happy. He was still young and didn't know too much about the world and then I recalled that he was a talking cat, so nah… Happy was definitely something out of the ordinary. Only the pink haired mage was left and he was undoubtedly a case for some mental institution. Eating laser like it was fire to boost his magic was foolish and ridiculous. Laser was no fire and he looked at me, blue face and nauseous eyes. "La..s.e..r is n…n..o..no f..fi…re?" he forced himself to speak and I couldn't believe it. He didn't change at all. Of course, it isn't fire. It might be hot and had the ability to burn things. But it was just a vast amount of highly concentrated energy.

Instead of wasting any more time, we decided to move on and Gray carried the sick and sleeping Natsu on his back. A few hours later, we arrived in the next town and checked in into the local guesthouse. The sun was setting and I wanted to check out the local magic shop. Maybe they had a few keys that I could buy. Without those, I was a good for nothing in battle and I really needed to be prepared when those evil mages decide to attack again. I would have asked Gray to join me, but someone had to watch Natsu. Of course there was Happy, but I didn't trust the cat to be of much help in the case of an unexpected visit from strong and evil mages.

Inside the magic shop, I snooped around the shelves and displays. There was nothing useful, though. The vendor asked me what I was looking for and upon mentioning the keys, she was awfully sorry that they were out of stock. It was too frustrating. I examined my hands and wondered about how I was going to save Juvia when I couldn't use magic at all. Even the woman had easy game with me if it wasn't for Natsu and Gray. I was quite lucky to have them. Yet, I didn't want to always rely on others.

Overly annoyed by my ineptness, I didn't want to return to the guesthouse and strolled around town to clear my head. I had settled down on a bench in front of the magic shop and just sighed. Out of nowhere, someone sat down next to me. I looked to my right to see a salmon haired guy. "Everything okay? Did you get any new keys?" He asked with the usual smile on his face. And you know the story about the keys. There were none to be bought. Natsu patted my head as if I was some little child and tried to cheer me up saying that I needn't worry about it. He was there to protect me. Yeah, right, as if I wanted him to. "You don't?" he innocently asked with puppy eyes. "In that case, I'll just go back to Magnolia!"

And I had to hold him back as he got up. My hands around his strong biceps reminded me that I had always avoided physical contact with him. But that night, holding on to his strong, muscular arm, I couldn't remember why. "No, it's alright for now. Until I'd get my keys back!" The silly smirk returned to his face as he mentioned that it was okay to accept the help of friends. It had me chuckle quietly. _When did we become friends?_ I just thought to myself and shyly glanced at the ground.

"It kind of reminds me!" Natsu broke the short moment of silence. "In the past two years I came across something…"

Ransacking his pockets, he searched for something and I didn't know what it was. He searched like a madman and expressed that he wasn't too sure whether it was of any use. In that moment, I didn't really care and simply wanted to find out. When he finally pulled out something and held it right in front of my eyes, I felt like a girl on her birthday getting the most amazing gift. My eyes were glowing disco balls, shimmering like diamonds as a most beautiful light sparkled. It was a key. Natsu had a key and intended to give it to me. It was just like a marriage proposal to me and as of then, I would have said yes! There was nothing in this world that had my heart beat faster than a key. And it wasn't just any key; it was a golden key.

"So, is this of any use?" He unknowingly wondered. Natsu Dragneel, although you really are a retard and didn't know how special that key was, I honestly wanted to kiss you!

He pressed the key into my hand and looked deep into my eyes. His expression was serious, different from any other I've seen from him and it was very attractive. Our faces moved closer to each other. I could clearly see his lips, soft and perfectly sculptured. I could have drowned in the black of his eyes. I had never felt like that before and not in a million years had I believed that it was going to be with him. Nevertheless, things change. Fate was a funny concept. Ever moving closer, our lips were about to connect. My heart was beating fast, almost busting out. It was going to be my first kiss and a tiny version of myself was screeching inside my head. And then…


	5. Chapter 5

C5: Center of Attention

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He pressed his warm lips on mine and the shrieking in my head persisted. I was the boiling kettle and he the fire that wouldn't go out. The world around us disappeared and I didn't want to admit to it, but he was a damn good kisser. Although Natsu is known to have a somewhat wild and childish personality, he did a pretty good job at this adult thing. I threw my arms over his shoulders and felt his hand on my back pushing me closer. Our noses touched and his skin felt just as heated as the whole situation. For a short moment, I retracted my face. I needed to catch some air.

He wouldn't let me, though, and placed two fingers on my chin to re-position my face. Our lips connected, once more. Then, I even opened my mouth and invited his tongue in. It was a tickling, slightly awkward feeling, to have another tongue inside. As he started to apply a little pressure onto mine, a subliminal sensation swept over me. It felt good. The pink haired guy, I bet he could tie cherry stems in knots.

I relaxed my neck and he moved further down to gently caress that very body part with his delicate lips. My breathing rhythm was exuberant. I inhaled deeply and exhaled extensively. "Oh Natsu…" I called out his name. My hand went through his spiky hair and to my surprise, they were silken soft. I always thought they'd prick my skin like cactuses would. And yet, it felt like fondling cotton candy. Even the smell of his shampoo added to that very experience: sweet like strawberries, fresh with a hint of peppermint, and slightly spicy like cinnamon.

He moved back up and we glanced into each other's eyes. "Your eyes are so beautiful" he complimented sweetly. My cheeks tinted rose and I chuckled in bashfulness. I never would have guessed that Natsu Dragneel was such a tender lover. And most of all, I never would have guessed that I'd let him get so close. Then, against all expectations, we were there, two years later, sitting on a bench and devouring each other like hormone driven youngsters. Of course, we factually were hormone driven youngsters; nevertheless, I always thought that I was a decent girl who wouldn't display so much affection in public.

Before I gave in to my hesitations, the wild guy placed his hot hands on my cheeks and tackled me with another sensual kiss; more aggressive and feisty. It was the wild Natsu I came to know when I first met him. Too much trouble for my taste and definitely not the type of man I dreamed of. Yet, it was the type of man my body craved for. He radiated warmth and I felt so safe in his embrace.

As another hand tapped my shoulder, I turned around and glanced into dark blue eyes of yet another stunning man. Just as passionate, he joined in on the fun. His lips were cold. And after such a sizzling session of making out, it was the right kind of love I needed to cool down. Imagine it like vanilla ice-cream melting on your tongue on a hot summer day. It was sensational. "Oh… Gray" I hissed through my teeth all the while his affectionate lips massaged mine. Natsu closed in again and worked me from behind massaging my back. It was such a perfect combination. The fire of the rose haired mage and the ice of the black haired mage clashed and in between, I simply melted away.

In the corner of my view, I caught a glimpse of something blue staring at us. I reoriented towards it. It was Happy, wiggling with its tail and dancing ridiculously. As the cat spread its wings and approached me, it started slapping my face with a smelly fish. It was wet, slimy and totally irritating. Disgusted by Happy's action, I wished for the cat to stop. Despite all my efforts, I could not move in the grasp of the guys. They were too busy with my body to care.

Then, my eyes popped open and I found myself in bed. Like a mad woman, I hastily turned to the right and then to the left and sighed in relief. Hell, was I glad that it was just a dream. I remembered how excited I was the night before, when I thought that Natsu wanted to kiss me after he gave me the key. But, what can I say? Natsu's an immature kid; never would he ever think of kissing me after such a lovely gesture. He moved closer to me, I felt his breath on my face and then he pulled a blade of grass out of my hair. He held it right in front of my nose and commented on my unkemptness. Upon wording that unbelievable insult, he even bore his typical grin all over his stupid face. I was so annoyed with him and headed straight for the guesthouse to lie down and sleep. Why I would dream such craziness was a mystery to me.

That morning, I sat up in bed and watched the morning sun shine through the tall windows to my left. Natsu and Gray still lay fast asleep on the other beds. The pink haired guy breathed heavily. It wasn't a snore, though. The other one quietly lay prone on the bed, face tilted to the side. Somehow they both looked cute. And just as that thought rushed through my head, I slapped both of my hands against my cheeks: "Don't ever think such nonsense, again" I whispered to myself.

All of a sudden, I felt a tickling on my skin and out from beneath the blanket two blue ears emerged. Then, Happy snuck out from below and rubbed his eyes. What in the world did the cat do beneath the covers? I was totally shaken and instantly pulled him up, my hands around his throat. "Who said you could sleep in my bed?" I yelled at him not caring whether I woke the boys up or not.

"Natsu's body temperatures are too high and Gray's are too low, so I slept here" the blue cat explained as if it was common sense. "What were you dreaming about anyway, Lucy? Calling out their names so many times…"

I froze on the spot and it wasn't Gray using his magic. My brain went into shutdown. Did the cat hear me say their names? I was running a tomato red. Not that dreaming it was embarrassing enough; no, the cat knew that I encountered the guys in my nightly adventure. And then, I don't know what's redder than a tomato, but I blushed harder. What if Gray and Natsu also heard me call their names? It was too much to handle; I couldn't breathe. And apparently, Happy couldn't either. I squeezed so strongly that his face would turn blue, if it wasn't that color, already.

"Oi, Lucy, you're awake! How did you sleep?" A voice asked and I shrieked like a mouse in the leer of a snake. It was Gray who just woke up. He rubbed his eyes and waited for my response. I was still crimson in bashfulness and simply said "Yes". Then he lay flat on his back and wondered what we were supposed to do next. We had no clue where to go in order to find my friend. It didn't seem like he heard me call his name while sleeping and Natsu probably didn't, either. Only the cat with supersensitive ears could have picked up on it. So I proposed a little deal: "Don't tell them anything, I'll buy you 10 fish!"

Despite of his stupid appearance, that cat was quite cunning and shrewd. Happy dared to bargain with me and would only keep his mouth shut when I'd buy him 100 fish. My blood was boiling. Damn that cat! 10 fish were expensive enough. Perhaps I'd be willing to buy 30, my last offer. But as the cat started to call out for Gray, I had to cover its blabbering mouth. It couldn't be helped, I had to give in. 100 fish it is.

I sighed in relief and fell back into my feather cushioned pillow. With my stare at the ceiling I thought of nothing until a golden shimmer caught my eyes. I looked over to the nightstand and there it was: the golden key, one of the 12. I couldn't believe how someone as retarded as Natsu got ahold of something so precious. I grabbed it and played around a little when Natsu also woke up.

"Good Morning, everyone! I had such a crazy dream last night" he announced in a tired voice and tell me about it. My dream could undoubtedly top his crazy. Although no one said that they wanted to hear about it, the pink haired kid went ahead and talked. In his dream, he was a little dragon and flew across the sky with Happy. They caught fish together and he grilled them with his fire breath. It was so much fun. There were more ridiculous details to his dream, but I didn't listen. I couldn't stop analyzing the beauty of the key in my hands.

"What gate does it open?" Gray asked pointing at the key. Well, it was the gate to some superior, totally amazing and mind-blowing celestial spirit of the zodiac. "Yeah, and which one is it?" the black haired mage impatiently wanted to know and stood at my bedside. Completely naked, I couldn't help but stare at his thing, the thing I almost dreamed about. I imaginarily beat sense into my brain and rapidly rushed out of bed to keep a distance. "Put on some clothes, for god's sake!" I yelled at him. Then Natsu appeared next to me, just in boxers. It was a little better than Gray, just a little. And yet, the fact that he pressed his bare chest, muscular and absolutely tight, against my arm was a hint too much to handle as well.

"So, Lucy, what gate does it open? I want to know, too" he innocently verbalized his thoughts and pointed at the key.

"Just back away a little, all of you, and I'll open it to show you" I announced proudly.

They both stepped back and sat down onto Gray's bed to watch me perform. The black haired boy, not naked anymore, crossed his legs and folded his arms whereas the rose haired boy glared with starry shimmer in his eyes and Happy on his lap.

I was the center of attention. Yup, it was time for me to shine!

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**(Thank you so much for viewing and reading my story up to the fifth chapter! I hope you guys liked it so far! Tell me what you think about it in the form of a review. That would be great! What direction should the story go next? Love you all)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yo, Minna! Here's the 6th chapter. Hope you guys will like it! I'm working double shifts here, haha. Just started a new story! You can check it out if you like (A date for Mirajane)! Other than that, Rock & Roll! ;)**

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C6: Part of a guild

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"I open the gate to the golden bull! Taurus!" I called upon my very new celestial spirit that I received from Natsu. They were sitting on the bed gaping in amazement. With fairy dusty glitter, a strong celestial spirit emerged from another world. I was overly excited myself. My heart thumped, my muscles tensed. I couldn't wait to meet Taurus; I felt just like a winner in the lottery and anticipated to claim my reward. It was so hard to tell what he'd be like. I mean, Virgo was quite the particular spirit. She always asked to be punished. Then I also had a few other silver keys. I really enjoyed the company of Lyra, her voice is heavenly and the melodies of her songs are soothing to the ears. Horologium is one of my most loyal friends, he keeps protecting me and I honestly admire his knowledge. I also had Pyxis, a compass like chicken. On my travels to train and become a stronger mage, the little guy helped me a lot with orientation.

A gentle tear slipped out of my eyes while reminiscing about them. I missed all of my keys. So I couldn't possibly describe the feeling of having been given a new one. But as soon as the bull stood next to me, all the joy and glee vanished into thin air. "Oh… what a nice body!" The spirit exclaimed and eyed every part of my female existence, especially the upper area of my torso… _Are all the zodiac spirits a little weird?_ I thought to myself.

Even Natsu, that moron, laughed at me. I blushed in embarrassment. You know, I was in a room full of guys and somehow I felt like everyone was staring at my feminine perks. The bull had pumping hearts in his eyes, Natsu lustfully licked his lips while laughing and Gray had a nose bleed. Only Happy was more interested in the fish in his hands. I just had to swallow up, ignore their reaction and set up the contract with Taurus.

"So Taurus, let's do it" I said with confidence and it must have come out wrong. Even Happy choked on his food and spat out the tiny chunks of fish. Slowly, I truthfully had enough of their impure thoughts and balled my fists like a boxer in the ring. I breathed steam and honestly wondered whether I was the real bull in that room. I saw red, too much red, and madness had my blood pumping at full speed. I laid out the terms of our contract and the celestial spirit had no other choice but to agree. He was so dazzled with my appearance, I could have demanded a few ridiculous extra services and he still would have agreed.

Then I closed the gate and send him away. I don't really know what had gotten into me, but I became quite the dominatrix – Virgo would have liked that side of me. I ordered Gray to get fully dressed, Natsu to stop grinning and Happy to stop eating. We were on a mission and as soon as it was done, I'd be out of there and off to Sabertooth; let's just hope that they wouldn't have such perverts in their guild.

It took a little while to calm down, but the boys were a little scared of me and worked pretty hard that day. We asked about each and every townsperson whether they had seen a slender, yet curvaceous, blue haired girl around my height wearing a black dress coat with thigh-high boots of brown color. All of it remained without success. A disappointed sigh escaped my lips and I sat on the bench in front of the magic shop, Happy on my lap.

"Where's my fish?" the blue cat asked me and I knew what he was referring to: our deal. I would be a bad celestial spirit mage, if I couldn't keep to my promises. So I sighed again and assured him that I'd buy him some later on. Exhaustion humbled the whole team spirit and at the time it seemed absolutely hopeless to find Juvia.

Then, in the frail moment where I thought about giving up, I overheard a conversation of worried commoners. They talked about a new dark guild in Fiore. It was unnerving. They robbed entire towns and villages. It was understandable that the fear of becoming the next victims came upon them. Gray also pricked up an ear to eavesdrop on their talk. And I peeked over to Natsu. He, nonetheless, was as dense as ever and childishly tried to catch a red dragonfly.

"Do you think that this dark guild kidnapped your friend?" Gray queried with a deep and very concerned voice. But I couldn't be too sure. It was a possibility. I had no leads except for the guy with the white hair and I hadn't even seen the guy who stole my keys with his magic. So perhaps it might be prudent to gather more information on that dark guild.

We walked up to the ladies vividly attending to their gossip and asked. The information wasn't too conclusive. They merely knew that a town nearby was raided by evil mages. It was scary because they were so close. In some way, they were quite lucky that it wasn't their precious home, at the same time, they really felt for the other townspeople. Still, the only thing they hoped for was that the guild would not come back to attack.

I was so drawn into the tragic story that I hadn't notice the heat that rose around me. A stinging pain on my elbow called upon my awareness and I noticed that a part of my top had caught fire. I quickly put it out. Stupid Natsu had burning hands, did not pay any attention and seriously glared into nothingness. It was so aggravating that he was so inattentive of everything. But as I looked more closely, I noticed a strange seriousness in his face. His eyebrows lowered and a silent growl derived from him. He had his fist balled and seemed quite agitated by all of that. I must admit, his reaction moved me and I forgave him for the little fire. When being so affected, maybe he did have a property that I looked for in a man: compassion.

"If these mages managed to destroy a whole town, then I really want to fight them!" he stated with determination and I had to revise my opinion on him as a compassionate man. Nope, what was I thinking in the first place? I imaginarily slapped a vigorous hand against my forehead. Natsu was wild, childish and absolutely nowhere near the perfect man I dreamed of. And then, I honestly had to question my sanity for trying to find something in him. My heart was betraying me.

I glanced over to Gray to divert my attention off the pink haired guy. Juvia was obsessed with him and I could see why. He, compared to the firecracker, was empathetic and remarked that it was too terrible that those dark mages destroyed homes of innocent people. They certainly wouldn't get away with it. And then, just in the frail moment when I thought he could fit the bill of a decent man, he stripped off almost all of his clothes.

My jaw dropped open instantly and I was at a complete loss for words. The women eyed his ripped body with cougar lust and that was when he noticed. It's so weird that he does it subconsciously. Juvia will have a lot of fun with him, I'm sure of it!

While getting dressed again, Gray suggested going to the other town to find out about the robbery and more information on that guild. It was a good idea. The black haired mage was quite rational and smart, certainly worthy of being a Fairy Tail wizard. It really beats me how the pink haired dude managed to get into such a prestigious guild. He was brain damaged and not even his cute boy charm could override that impression. Well, he threw his arms around my shoulders anyway and commented how exciting it was to do this mission with me. I didn't know why, but a little blood rushed to my face when he walked so close to me. Perhaps it was his sweet smell of cinnamon which drew me in.

We arrived at the next town and I had to cover my mouth in shock. Buildings were completely torn, numerous people were wounded and children ran around crying. _Who could do such a thing? _I thought to myself and gawped in utter disbelief. It was horrible, inhuman. We walked into town and all the people looked at us backing away. They were still under shock, scared of strangers. Mothers pulled their kids closer to their bodies while backing away from us.

Gray lifted his shirt. _Oh my, what's he doing now_, were my only thoughts while I shook my head at his outlandish behavior. But as he verbalized his intention, it was all put into perspective. "Don't worry, we're from Fairy Tail, we don't mean any harm" he calmed the townspeople down. The crest was on his chest, so he had to lift the shirt to display it. And I believe it goes without saying why Natsu did not show his mark; his mind was a snail, not fast enough to think of it.

Everybody sighed in relief and a few kids approached Gray to ask for an autograph. He was quite the celebrity, indeed. I glanced over to Natsu and even he had some young admirers lining up. "You're the new member, right? They call you Salamander, it's so cool!" a little boy said and wanted to see some fire magic. Natsu was good with kids and created a little fire around his fist to show off. They were thrilled to see some magic.

Then I felt a gentle pull on my skirt. As I looked down, there was the sweetest little girl. "Are you also a new member? When I'm older I want to be just like you and join Fairy Tail. You're so pretty," she shyly said and it was so adorable. But I wasn't a member of Fairy Tail, I was just a celestial spirit mage with one key. It was kind of sad and I didn't want to disappoint her. Therefore, I refrained from telling her and just said: "I think you will be a good addition to the guild!"

"Can I have your autograph? That way I can show it to you, once I've also joined the guild!" She cheerfully jumped up and down wanting my signature. I couldn't give it to her, though. What if she actually joined the guild and found out that I was never really a member. I wanted to join Sabertooth after all of this was over.

Natsu placed an arm on my shoulder and pressed me down a little. "Of course she will give you an autograph. She is one of Fairy Tail's most beautiful members!"

Damn it, Natsu! Why did you have to say something like that? And then, it kind of crossed my mind for the first time. Maybe I should consider joining that guild.

As a worried mother approached us, she wanted to know whether we came to stop the dark guild. They had lost so much because of them and a renowned guild like Fairy Tail would want to stop such evil. Gray did not disagree and said that we came to gather information on this dark guild.

The woman described a few mages and I didn't remember any of those when we were attacked. Apparently, there was a wizard who used fire magic just like Natsu which explained the few burned down buildings. Then there was that malicious woman using earth magic. Another one summoned strange creatures and like a slave master, she had complete control over them. The last one of their team was a man with the ability to scale objects; either made them bigger or smaller. He stole a whole lot of precious jewelry and fitted them all in his pockets.

"They said that we better remember the name of their guild because they were going to become the greatest of all time" A woman remarked, frightened and intimidated by those criminals. Of course we needed to know the name of that very guild and terrorized by the memory, she said it was: Forbidden Rose.

Both, Natsu and I, halted our breaths. It couldn't be true, could it? I remember Birgit, the girl who liked to build sandcastles. There was Lila who always loved animals and Manno who always complained that things were either too big or too small. They were all part of a guild that was closed down two years ago…

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**Many thanks for reading my story! I have 23 Followers and 10 have added this story to their favorites! I feel so blessed with your support! How did you like this chapter? Anything to criticize, anything you want to happen? Let me know! :D **


	7. Chapter 7

**Ello guys! Welcome back to Fairy Tail - only different. It's been a little while, but the wait is over: Bling, bling; it's chapter 7!**

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C7: Bling, bling

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"Oi, something wrong you two?" Gray asked us, mute and absent in the distant world of memories. We knew them. They used to be our comrades. The question was: what had happened to them in the past two years that they'd turn against the law and became criminals? And what did they want with me? There was no way I'd join a dark guild.

Natsu did not come to his senses and walked straight out of town without saying a single word. I thought about following, but we weren't really that close. Although Gray told me to, I shrugged it off. Let him be, whatever. Instead my attention focused on the woman. There was the possibility that she knew more. Anything that could help us find that guild and take it down was of greatest asset. I was even certain that they had Juvia, as well. Laser-girl had said so, they wanted me and took the wrong girl. And if we're dealing with Ivory Rose, now named Forbidden Rose, I could only infer that they wanted me to join them.

Unfortunately, our source of information was exhausted; the woman did not know anything and she was too upset about her precious hometown to go into further detail anyway. It was natural. She lost so much. It was an emotion that I could relate to. And it aches in the heart. Nevertheless, it didn't kill, so we had to become stronger. I became stronger and was determined to rebuild my life. I told her that; it was not the end. It was a big setback, but it was not the end. I pointed over to a gathering of townspeople and remarked: "I know this is a catastrophe and it is tragic. Still, you've got each other and you are a big family. Together, you can pull through. Rebuild this town, make it more beautiful and don't let those lower beings get to you! They will get what they deserve!"

It was surprising, but I was a good speaker. She had tears in her eyes and gave me an assuring hug. It felt good. Even Gray placed a hand onto my shoulder and said that I did great cheering her up. And then I also felt like doing the same pepping up with Natsu. Those rogue mages, they used to be our friends. And then they switched sides and became the enemy. I knew exactly what to tell Natsu; we had more to fight for than just justice. By turning evil and forming a dark guild, our former friends had stained our names. It was our duty to do the washing. Thus, I headed out to meet the pink haired guy to plan the strife.

But I couldn't find him anywhere. It was then that Gray walked up to me and expressed that the flame brain had probably taken off without telling anyone. Happy was with him and that damn cat could fly. No way were we going to find him. And it was so like him: irrational, impulsive and overly annoying. Natsu didn't even know where the enemy was. For all I know, Forbidden Rose could have their base somewhere well hidden. My gaze wondered over to Gray who inspected the environment. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. The indecipherable expression on his face had always been a mystery to me.

"Where was your old guild located? I think he might have gone there" he said in an unaffected tone. Nevertheless, it was a reasonable starting point. The problem with that was the fact that we couldn't get there as quickly as we would have liked. Being airborne like the blue cat would circumvent that obstacle. Yet, I was just with the ice stripper and he couldn't get us there as fast as he could take off his clothes, right? So we had to head back to the other town and rent a vehicle.

With breaking of the night, we arrived at Wiltingen, the little town Juvia was from. We didn't visit her parents because I did not want them to worry. I was on a mission with Fairy Tail mages after all. We were going to find her and everything will be alright. We rode up to my former guild a little distance outside of town and there he was, Natsu Dragneel fighting with a few acquaintances. I saw fire ignite and heard loud explosions. As soon as we were on scene, Gray joined his comrade.

But those opponents weren't the ones the woman had described, those were other mages, capable fighters. Natsu brawled with a guy using strange magic. I couldn't really see what he was doing. He was simply fighting with fists and kicks. The pink haired fire breather still had to go against determined resistance.

It didn't look much different with Gray. He meant to back up his friend if it wasn't for a second wizard showing up. He was a fire wizard, possibly the one that raided the town. It was fire against ice. Steam rose into high air and misted the whole surrounding. It was like watching an action movie in the cinema. Thrilling fighting scenes and good looking guys; and just as one would expect, there was a last resort on the evil's side. He stood on top of the building in the background and observed the performance. He seemed familiar and whatever I spotted around his belt kicked my rusty memory.

Bling, bling; there were keys loosely dangling. Those were mine and I wanted them back. In accordance to my goal, I simply had to get my hands dirty and called upon the only spirit I had: Taurus. With his super powers, we bounced into heights and landed right on the roof to face the thief. He was surprised to see me and even more surprised that I was stupid enough to take him on. In case I had forgotten – in its most appropriate sense – he used a magic called Oblivion. And before I could react, Taurus disappeared.

"What you're gonna do without your keys, celestial spirit mage?" the guy asked victoriously. But I had a few tricks up my sleeve. "Never underestimate a pretty blonde" was my suggestion. I simply walked up to him and "Lucy Kick!" It was a direct hit and I grabbed ahold of my keys. Ripping them off his belt, I soon held all of them in my hands. It was time to get the party started! I licked my upper lip and raised two keys into the air. As I said, never underestimate a pretty blonde.

"Open! Gate of the Chisel, Gate of the Lyre! Caelum and Lyra!"

It felt so good to have them back and summon whomever I liked. I ordered Lyra to play some frightening music to distract the enemies and had Caelum shoot a strong laser of vicious green color. My spirit aimed at the oblivious guy to ship him into oblivion. Poetic justice! With a massive blast of pure energy, he was catapulted off the rooftop. My win was short-lived. About to join the guys, I was being held back by the guy I intended to forget as soon as possible. I couldn't fathom it. Caelum made a direct hit. He should have been down. Nevertheless, he appeared to be completely unharmed and elucidated. Apparently, the laser never made an impact. It was forgotten along the way. One thing's clear, he was annoyingly obstinate. A kick in the face didn't do him any harm and a vile ray of heated light couldn't take him down.

I had to step up my game. Caelum transformed into another form. Like an amazing hammer to demolish anything in its way, I swung the spirit to knock my opponent out. And one hit couldn't be enough, so I hit him once and twice and even more often. He deserved the beating and to finish him off, I used my other spirit. Yup, you thought she was just a lame singer, huh? But we blondes have to stick together! "Lyra, use your supersonic sound waves to finish him off!"

The earth was shaking and the resonance of a high-pitched sound, not audible to human ears made its impact. My eyes only saw one nasty guy being hurled across the horizon and out of sight. Just in time to celebrate with Natsu and Gray who also won their battles.

"Not bad, Lucy! You got very strong" Natsu complimented and ran a hand through my hair. He flashed his toothy smirk and along with it, he held up a key in his hands. How many times did he have to give it to me? I didn't know. But I knew that I never want to lose any of my keys again, even if the salmon haired fire mage would keep finding them for me.

And the good news came in like gifts on a birthday. Gray retrieved important information on the guild. Before he served his final blow, he managed to get a location: the forests in the north east of Fiore.

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**Sorry, if the chapter is bad! Leave a review below to let me know how I'm doing with this story (no review since C3 and that's not necessarily a good sign to keep on writing). If it wasn't for the faithful followers, I would have stopped writing it! So this is specially for you! :D**


	8. Chapter 8

C8: Fairy Tail

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We've been travelling through the woods for what seems to be decades and there was no sign of a dark guild anywhere. It was dark, alright, but the guild part was still missing. Natsu moaned like a spoiled brat. He hadn't eaten anything in a while and wandering around the forest didn't convene with a little break at a cozy diner. Gray, thank god he was with us, kept shutting him up. Apparently the mission took us longer than initially anticipated and the black haired guy did not want to drag it out any further. The pay was not good enough for his precious time. What can I say? I'm a poor girl and couldn't give them all the jewels I had.

We had discussed the deal from 50 000 up to 150 000. But since I had to buy 100 fish for that stupid cat, I had negotiated the pay down to 125 000 jewels. Come on, I already paid for all the food and nights in guesthouses.

Still walking around like straying animals, I almost lost hope when I suddenly heard cheerful voices and saw a little flicker of light between the trees. There was a hut in the middle of nowhere and I bet my keys that this was the location. We went over the plan again and honestly had to worry about Natsu. He just didn't get it.

We plotted that one of us had to quietly sneak up and see how many of them we had to fight. Happy was assigned that easy task. But even something so simple could not be handled by a stupid cat. He was Natsu's partner after all and only one as dense as he could put up with his daily nonsense.

"They served delicious fish and my mouth watered so much that I forgot what I actually wanted to do" the blue ball of fur returned and announced the aggravating news. In the end, I had to walk up to handle it. It was a balloon that popped in my face. They had set up a trap and I tripped right into it. The cat wasn't affected because Happy could fly.

Death approached in slowest motion. I saw magical missiles flying straight at me. In the center of the disastrous impact, I stopped respiration and froze on the spot. There was only time to slightly turn my gaze to see something coming from the right. As fast as a bolt of lightning, those vile bullets were about to pierce directly through my petite body.

"Lucy" I heard a familiar voice call for me and had no time to react to it. But Natsu jumped right in and pushed me to the ground. I felt warm fluid splatter all over me and as I looked up, he had taken the damage for me. Tears hazed my view. The people from inside came rushing out and I heard them saying our names. This was definitely the guild and I felt how the pink haired fire mage got really angry. "Now I'm all fired up to take you down. Although you were once my friends, I can't let you get away with hurting us!"

He rapidly dashed towards a torch hanging at the entrance and ate the flames. Like a fiery dragon, he breathed fire of enormous heat and knocked out opponent after opponent. Gray hurried to my side and helped me up. A few mages who weren't beaten up by Natsu yet, pointed at us and came to attack us. With agile dexterity the ice-make mage created a wall of ice to block an attack and created an ice-cannon to shoot the adversaries down. Everything happened so fast that I couldn't break free from someone grabbing me. She shot a vicious ray of laser at Gray and catapulted him far away from me.

I looked up to see the brown haired girl we had encountered when we had just embarked on our journey. She dragged me straight into the guild and closed the doors behind us. Harshly tossing me on one of the chairs, a girl appeared behind me and tied me up with snakes. "Don't try to break free or my dear friends will bite" she said. It was Lila.

"Why are you doing this? We used to be friends" I questioned her sense of morality. But she became furious and attempted to justify her actions.

"Don't you remember, Lucy? Our guild, our home had been shut down by the magic council. Everything we had was taken away from us. We had already discussed it then. We were going to show those know-it-all council members that it was a mistake. We might have been small, but we could grow. All of the master's efforts to convince them otherwise have been coldly ignored. He was treated like an insect and we had to do something to make them regret. So we decided to do this. You would have known about it, if you weren't too busy planning your future like some princess with a happily ever after. You didn't care about us, Lucy. We were just a transitory home to you and to Natsu and as soon as we were shut down, you were off to join another guild. You just gave up on us!"

She had a long speech prepared and I didn't realize how much the guild had meant to them. Moreover, I believe that Lila was right. I had taken the guild for granted and when it was no more, I simply moved on to find a new one. It wasn't right to just give up on it and it was just not right to do all they did to make a name for themselves.

Chatting like long lost friends, I still heard the brawl beyond the walls. Natsu and Gray were fighting and I simply hoped they were alright. They were up against quite a number of enemies. And if I wanted to help them, I honestly had to focus on helping myself first. I couldn't move my hands, but if I concentrate enough of my magical energy, I could be able to open a gate without holding the key. So I repeated in my head, over and over, again. Open, gate of the golden bull! Open, gate of the golden bull!

I recalled the day Natsu had given me the key. He was so unknowing and wondered whether it was of any use. So I was about to see whether it was of any use. Open, gate of the golden bull! "Taurus" I called out and out of nowhere, the bull appeared to cut the snakes in half and fend off the girls. Then, I grabbed ahold of another key. It was golden and I've only used it once before. That spirit, she was quite a bitch and I try my best not to rely on her. In this situation, however, she was my best option.

"Open, gate of the water bearer! Aquarius!" I summoned the beast and dipped the key into a glass on the table. As soon as she appeared in front of me, I already regretted the move. She had the evil glare on her face and growled like a furious monster: "Did you just put my key into a mug of beer?"

Before I could answer her question, a wild tsunami emerged and tore the whole building apart. I was in the middle of the giant wave and saw Gray and Natsu staring up at me. When the deathly flood suddenly turned to coldest ice, a mage with white hair walked up. "So we meet again!" He looked as evil as ever and he had Juvia with him. She was shackled and looked scared.

Gray gaped over to the guy and couldn't fathom his presence. "Lyon?" he said.

"It's such a surprise, Gray. How you've been?" And right when it got interesting, because I died to know how Gray knew him, the water bearer and her temper intercepted. "You dare freeze over my water, white haired geezer?" The wrath of this spirit was something everyone should want to avoid. With extreme power, she whirled him and the others out of sight and out of mind. Natsu melted the ice with his fire and I was on safe grounds again.

"My job is done, I have a date with my boyfriend. My boyfriend!" Aquarius said before she just took off. I also sent Taurus away and rushed to Juvia's side. She was unconscious and I tried to wake her. Natsu, as retarded as ever, wondered why she looked so happy. But this time, he wasn't too off with his usually inaccurate observations.

"Juvia is in heaven, she thinks. Her beloved Gray-sama has come to her rescue. It must be a dream…" she mumbled to herself and I just held her tight in my arms.

Back in Magnolia in front of the Fairy Tail building, I enjoyed the warm rays of sun. It was quite an adventure and the kid who couldn't get his fire to the point of impact wasn't that bad after all. He became a strong mage and a part of a great guild. Forbidden Rose has been shut down for good and the members, apart from Lyon who couldn't be found, were imprisoned by the magic council. I breathed in the fresh air, when Natsu appeared behind me and asked where I was going.

"What do you mean? I'm going to Sabertooth," I said.

"No kidding, huh?" he bore a warm smile on his face and I raised my right hand to wave a gentle goodbye. He looked right at it and flashed his toothy grin. There was a rose colored symbol on the delicate skin. It was Fairy Tail's symbol.

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**Okay, everyone! I've decided to end this story here. Thank you all for reading it and supporting me. I really appreciate it! At first I had an extended ending, but decided to leave it out because it is fine like that. But if you really want to know, I have the last paragraph posted below. Be warned, it's really cheesy! ;)**

**Check out "A Date for Mirajane", my other story, which is still ongoing. It's about Lucy and Lisanna getting tired of Mira's constant matchmaking. Now they want to find an appropriate date for the lovely Mira and brew a potion to help her see what's in her heart. Too bad that Mira is a demon at heart and goes wild with the guys.**

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I looked right at him, when Mirajane walked past and pushed the salmon haired guy. I didn't know what to do and tried to keep him from falling. He still fell and the old me, she would have stepped aside or let out a screech as shrill as the sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard because he touched me. And not just anywhere, he fell with his lips right on mine. Yes, my first kiss could not be any more ridiculous. With a guy like Natsu Dragneel, I guess it shouldn't be surprising.


End file.
